Hal Rogers

Mr. ROGERS of Kentucky

Mr. ROGERS of Kentucky. I continue to reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. ROGERS of Kentucky. Mr. Speaker, I yield 2 minutes to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Fitzpatrick).

Mr. ROGERS of Kentucky

Mr. ROGERS of Kentucky. I yield the gentleman an additional 1 minute.

Mr. ROGERS of Kentucky. Mr. Speaker, I yield now 3 minutes to the vice chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Thornberry).

Mr. ROGERS of Kentucky. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to the very distinguished and hardworking chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, the gentleman from California (Mr. McKeon).

Mr. ROGERS of Kentucky. While we're waiting for the Senate to send us a bill relieving us of sequestration, while we're waiting for the President to send us something to relieve us of sequestration, we have no choice but to pass a continuing resolution to keep the government operating. Sequestration I hope we can deal with in the future, but now we're dealing with whether or not to shut the government down. Is that not correct?

Mr. ROGERS of Kentucky. I thank the gentleman for yielding and would confirm that the gentleman is correct. The prohibition in the NDAA is law, and nothing in this bill or report overrides or changes that fact. The language in our report was conferenced last year when the outcome of MEADS in the NDAA was not known. Chairman Young works closely with the Armed Services Committee, and it is not our intention to change or override any provision of that bill. The prohibition in the bill is the law.

Mr. ROGERS of Kentucky. Mr. Speaker, I yield 1 minute to the gentleman from Pennsylvania (Mr. Shuster), who chairs the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, for the purpose of a colloquy.

Mr. ROGERS of Kentucky. Mr. Speaker, I now yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from Texas (Mr. Culberson), the chairman of the Military Construction and Veterans Affairs Subcommittee on appropriations.

Mr. ROGERS of Kentucky. I ask unanimous consent that all Members may have 5 legislative days in which to revise and extend their remarks and include extraneous material on the consideration of H.R. 933 and that I may include tabular material on the same.

Mr. ROGERS of Kentucky. Mr. Speaker, pursuant to House Resolution 99, I call up the bill (H.R. 933) making appropriations for the Department of Defense, the Department of Veterans Affairs, and other departments and agencies for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2013, and for other purposes, and ask for its immediate consideration.

Mr. ROGERS of Kentucky. I thank the gentleman.

Mr. ROGERS of Kentucky. Mr. Speaker, I yield 3 minutes to a hardworking Member, the gentleman from Iowa (Mr. Latham), who chairs the Transportation, Housing and Urban Development Subcommittee on Appropriations.

Mr. ROGERS of Kentucky. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself the balance of my time. Mr. Speaker, this is all about whether or not we shut down the government. This is a bill to keep the government operating while we debate, then, how we deal with sequestration. This is not a sequestration bill. This is a bill to continue funding the government for the balance of the fiscal year and to help the military cope with the restrictions so that our Nation is adequately defended by our men and women in uniform. I urge the adoption of the continuing resolution. Let's keep the government going. I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. ROGERS of Kentucky. Mr. Speaker, the budgetary problems we face are unprecedented, and the American public demands that we address them. This continuing resolution is the first step in that process. The measure before us does four important things: one, it takes threat of a government shutdown off the table; two, it fulfills the agreements made in the Budget Control Act; three, it protects our troops in harm's way; and, four, it binds up our veterans' wounds. This is not the time, Mr. Speaker, to argue about sequestration. Today is the day to keep the government running and show the people back home we've not lost the ability to govern. The House has passed two separate responsible sequestration replacement bills only to have both of them languish in the other body without action. We're still waiting, Mr. Speaker. The President must come to the table with a real proposal to solve the sequestration crisis instead of sending us the same old talking points and doing campaign trips around the country. The public is tired of government putting politics ahead of people. Now is the time to take a shutdown off the table. Now is the time to give our troops and our veterans the resources they need, deserve, and have earned. Now is the time, Mr. Speaker, to govern. Vote ``no'' on this motion, and vote ``yes'' to keep the government operating. With that, I yield back the balance of my time.

Mr. ROGERS of Kentucky. Mr. Speaker, I rise in opposition.

Mr. ROGERS of Kentucky. Mr. Speaker, I yield myself 1 minute and would ask Mr. Visclosky if he might rejoin us at the microphone. On the point the gentleman just broached and, that is, the passage of bills, one of the most frustrating things of my life is that we cannot get the Senate to pass any appropriations bills. As the gentleman knows--because he helped pass the Defense bill for this year and all years--we passed, through the House committee, all 12 bills. We sent them to the Senate, and all we got back was a resounding snore. They didn't do anything. When the Senate doesn't appropriate, in spite of the fact that we've passed all of our bills over here, we have to pass a continuing resolution. That is where we are. I lament that, as does the gentleman. And I know that he joins me in wanting us to pass, through regular order, each individual bill, bring it to the floor, let the Members have their say and vote on amendments and the like.

Mr. ROGERS of Kentucky. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. ROGERS of Kentucky. I reserve the balance of my time.

Mr. ROGERS of Kentucky. I yield to the gentleman from Indiana.

Mr. ROGERS of Kentucky. If the gentlelady will yield, last year we voted twice in this body to replace sequestration, and it died because the Senate wouldn't take it up.

Mr. ROGERS of Kentucky. Mr. Speaker, might I inquire how many speakers remain on the gentlelady's side. I have one remaining speaker.

Mr. ROGERS of Kentucky. Mr. Speaker, may I inquire of the time?

Mr. ROGERS of Kentucky. Mr. Speaker, I yield 4 minutes to the gentleman from New Jersey (Mr. Frelinghuysen), the distinguished vice chairman of the Defense Subcommittee on Appropriations.

Mr. ROGERS of Kentucky. Will the gentlelady yield?